Sylvanas-Windrunner

Nothing forms a bond quite like family. And no other family has been quite as high-profile as the Windrunners. Each of the Windrunner sisters has experienced what could be considered a uniquely tragic history. Yet all three share similarities that continue to haunt them to this day. It’s not often that we see true blood-related...

The name Windrunner is a well-known one on Azeroth. Sylvanas is easily the most recognized. After all, she was Ranger-General of Silvermoon, then leader of the Forsaken, and now leader of the entire Horde. Her younger sister Vereesa built a name for herself as well, though not quite as prominent. Vereesa avoided Kael’thas’ teachings and...

If you clicked on this article not expecting spoilers, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s spoilers all the way down. Have I been clear? This post contains major spoilers for patch 7.3! Last week had more raid testing for the upcoming Argus raid, Antorus, the Burning Throne. Heroic Varimathras, The Coven of Shivarra,...

One of the questions I hear a lot is: After we deal with the Legion, what threat could possibly be next? It’s a question I’ve asked myself a few times. There are some obvious answers, of course, but one of the trends I’m seeing in Legion is that we’re being our usual short sighted selves...

A new World of Warcraft short story has just been released, featuring everyone’s favorite Dark Lady and her steadfast loyal Champion. In Dark Mirror, Nathanos Blightcaller recounts memories of his life before and after the Scourge invasion, and memories of Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner, while awaiting a mysterious Val’kyr ritual to make him stronger at the...

Quel’Thalas today is still recovering from the wounds inflicted by the Third War. Half of Eversong is known today as the Ghostlands, as the Scourge’s taint remains to wreak havoc. Along the vast trench of dead and defiled earth known as the Dead Scar, bisecting Silvermoon City itself and heading out across the bottom of...

This isn’t a defense of any character’s actions in WoW or the story of the Warcraft setting. Rather, it’s an examination of the haphazard way that traumatic experiences are shown to shape characters — some characters recover from experiences in a very short time while others never seem to, and still others are shown to...

The Alliance may have a lot to think about plot-wise this expansion, but the Horde has just as much going on – and none of it is particularly happy. Horde roleplay in Legion mirrors the Alliance. After all, the Burning Legion isn’t just a threat to one faction or the other; it’s a threat to...

What do you do when you’ve lost everything? It’s a question Sylvanas Windrunner likely asks herself every single day. At first, the answer was easy: Exact vengeance upon the Lich King. In Wrath of the Lich King, Sylvanas accomplished exactly that, and later returned to Icecrown to find another Lich King sitting on the Frozen...

The Warcraft universe and its lore is pretty vast and expansive. Let’s face it, we’re looking at twenty years worth of games and written lore here, which is a crazy amount for any one person to process. There’s also been a lot of novels, graphic novels, short stories and comics released over the years as...

First, let’s get the spoilerific business out of the way. This post is full of spoilers. If you haven’t played through the introductory quest for the Broken Shore, go do it now. You don’t even have to have purchased Legion. All WoW accounts in good standing with a character at level 100 can do it....

When last I wrote a KYL for you all, I talked about the state of affairs on Azeroth at the start of World of Warcraft. Four years had passed since the mortal races banded together to stop the Burning Legion atop Mount Hyjal. We saw how the Alliance formed, how each race — Humans, Night...

We talked last week about how Sylvanas dealt with her final attempt at revenge against Arthas, and the failure of that attempt. Yes, Arthas was dead, and yes, she helped bring it about — but it wasn’t her hand that fired the fatal arrow, and his ultimate demise left her unsatisfied and without purpose. A...

We looked at her life, her death, and her rise to become the Banshee Queen. But Sylvanas’ story didn’t end with the destruction of her Dreadlord enemies and the ascension to the throne of the Undercity. After bending the Nathrezim Varimathras to her will, she took steps to secure her power, both for her own sake...

When last we looked at Sylvanas Windrunner, she had died at the hands of Arthas Menethil, servant of the Lich King. Now we look at what happened after she died: how she went from the Ranger-General of Silvermoon to the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken. Death was a hard demarcation line for Sylvanas — the...

Often when we discuss Sylvanas, we begin at the Banshee Queen. And since her death, forced undeath, and escape from the control of the Lich King, Sylvanas has changed the face of the world of Azeroth. There’s no denying it — for good or (more often) for ill, Sylvanas Windrunner is a power to be...